Hat-rack.



R. R. SMITH.

HAT RACK.

APPLICATION FILED 00131. \91s.

I Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

3 SHEETSSHEET l- HYVENTUR M,

I ll |l 1 I y L ull ATTORNEYS R. R. SMITH.

HAT RACK.

APPLICATION FILED 001.31.1913.

1,21 9,784 Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENTOR ATTORNEYS B. SMITH. HAT RACK.

APPLICATION HLED OCTJ3I. 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- Patented Mar. 20

1,21 wgh ATTORNEYS tion of a hat rack such as pnrrnn stains Mm o inion.1

ROBERT E. SMITH, or rHILADELrHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB. 'ro MILLERLOCK COMPANY, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION or PENNSYL-VANIA.

' HAT-RACK,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT B. SMITH, acitizen of the United States, residing in the city and county ofPhiladelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulHat-Rack, of which'the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a novel construcis used by hat manufacturersduring the process of manufacture, for the purpose of transporting thehats from place to place where they are subjected to the variousprocesses during their different stages of manufacture. The old stylehat racks which have generally been 1 employed for this purpose havebeenmade of wood having cross bars on which the hats were placed toconvey them to different departrnents in the factory. These racks tookupa great deal of room, wereeasily broken and in need of constantrepair, and when not in use required a large amount of storage space andwere also heavy and unwieldy to handle.

By my present construction I have produced a metallic hat rack whichcan" be cheaply manufactured and is capable of be ing readilytransported'from different 'departments in the factory, the device beingeX- ceedingly-rigid and durable and being constructed to have minimumweight and maximum strength so that two or more of the racks can besuperimposed upon each other, my novel hat rack beinginuch more durablethan the ordinary racks in use and being easily moved upon the floorWithout lifting, no feet being required as the rack rests simply uponthe gliders attached to the under surface of the rack.

To the above ends my invention consists of a novel construction of a hatrack, the novel features of which will be hereinafter fully set forth,described and claimed.

' For the purpose of illustratingmyinvention, I have shown in theaccompanying drawings those forms thereof which are at present preferredby me, since the same have been found in practice to give satisfactoryand reliable results, althougliit is to be understoodthat the variousinstrumentalities of which my invention consists can-be vari-, ouslyarranged and org'amzed and that my invention is not'liniited to theprecise ar- Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedMar. 2o, iei'r.

Application filed October 31, 1913. Serial No. 798,433.

rangement and organization of these instrumentalities as herein shownand described.

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a hat rack embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 represents, on an enlarged scale, a perspective viewof an upper detail of the same.

Fig. 3 represents, on an enlarged scale, a perspective view of a lowerdetail of the same. Fig. 4 represents on an enlarged scale, aperspective View of the truss for the upper and lower portions of therack: Fig. 5 represents a detail view to be hereinafter referred to.

Fig. 6 represents a section on line fl l3 Fig. 7 represents aperspective view of a rack especially designed for womens hats. Fig. 8represents a sectional detail view of two uprights and of hat-supportingmembers connected thereto. Fig. 9 represents a sectional. detail view ofthe end of one of the supporting members, an end-piece and a clipsecuring said parts together.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in' thefigures. Referring to the drawings. 1

1 designates my novel construction of a rack for hats or other articles,the same comprisingfour uprights, 2, 3, 4:, and 5, which are composed ofthin angular-shaped bars arranged to form the corners of the device. Thelower endsof each of the corner pieces are provided with laterallydeflected flanges 63,. as will be understood from the lower portion of.Fig. 3, and rest upon the flange 7 of the transverse base members whichare two in number, as will be understood from Fig. 1, and are providedwith the outer upwardly extending members 8 which give stiffness andrigidity to the structure, the bottom member 7 being provided with theremovable bulged portions or gliders 9 which have a convex face adaptedto rest upon the floor so that the hat rack can be readily slid alongthe floor from one department to the other. The lower portion of each ofthe members 2, 3, at and 5 is reinforced by angular shaped strips 10 onemember of which has laterally deflected flanges 1 1 adapted-to besuperimposed upon the flange 6, while the other member of thereinforcing devicelias the laterally deflected flange or foot 12 whichis placed between the foot 13 of the corner member 3 and the base member7, as will be understood from the lower portion of Fig. 3, so that whenthe parts are riveted together, in the manner shown, an. exceedinglyrigid,

. still and durable structure is produced.

The above construction is employed on the lower portion of the uprights2, 3, 4i and 5 and a description of one will suilice for all. The upperportion of each of the corner pieces 3 is reinforced in substantiallythe same manner as already described and provided with laterallydeflected members 53 and 1 1, and 16, which may be superimposed uponeach other and riveted together, as will be understood from Fig. 2.

The upright members 2 and 4t are joined by the side members 17, 18, 19,20, 21 and 22 while the opposite members 3 and 5 are joined by the sidemembers 23, 2th, 25, 26,

27 and 28, these members being securely riveted to the juxtaposedflanges as will be readily understood from Figs. 1 and 2. The endmembers 2 and 3 are braced and stiffened by the end pieces 29 and 30while the end uprights 4i and 5 are braced and stiffened by the endpieces 31 and 32. 33 designates a hat holder preferably made of wire theends of each holder being secured to longitudinal strips, as 17 and 28,the hat holder being provided with a horizontal portion and the verticaldepending limbs whose terminals 3 1 are secured in the side members as17 and 28, as will be understood from the right hand portion of Fig. 3.I preferably employ siX ofthe hat holders 33 on each side of the rack,as will be understood from Fig. 1, so that the hat rack is capable ofsupporting one dozen hats.

The central portion of the hat rack is braced and stifiened by means ofthe oppositely located upright channel or U-shaped bars 35 and 36, thebar 36 being riveted or otherwise secured to the side members 1?, 18,19, 20, 21 and 22, while the oppositely located intermediate uprightchannel bar 35 is secured to the side members 23, 24:, 25, 26, 27 and28. 37 designates the top cross piece which is riveted or otherwisesecured to the upper portion of the channel bars 35 and 36, while thelower portion of said channel bars is braced by the cross piece 38, themanner of securing the cross pieces 37 and 38 in position beingunderstood from Fig. 1.

In order to render the upper portions of the hat rack as stiff and rigidas possible,

strengthen the same by the employment 01 the upper cross pieces 39 and40, the latter being preferably of tubular construction and flattened attheir central portions where they intersect and being secured by meansof the rivets 41 to the upper piece 37 the manner of securing themembers 39 and 10 in position at their extremities being understood fromFig. 2. In like manner I reinforce'and strengthen the lower portions ofthe hat rack by the employment of similar trusses or rods 12 and 13, aswill be understood from the lower portion of Fig. 1. The top ends of theuprights 2, 3, 4L, and 5 are strengthened and secured by means of thetop side members 4: 1 and 4:5 each of the latter having the laterallyextending member 16 and the upright member e7, whereby the angularshaped channel or seat is formed so that two or more of the hat racksmay be superimposed upon each other if desired.

as designates a strip or strips attached to each of the end members as 1and 5 or 2 and 3 and having a deflected portion 49 therein in which islocated a spring member as 50 in order that a tag as 51, seen in theleft hand portion of Fig. 1, may be readily inserted and withdrawn, saidtag showing the number of hats on the rack or the different stages ofmanufacture and the cost of the same.

In the detailed view of Fig. 5, I have shown a ready and convenientmanner for forming the foot members as 11 and 12 seen in Fig. 3. Ireinforce the points of connection of any or all of the various sidemembers as 17, 18, 19 etc, by triangular pieces 52, as will beunderstood from Figs. 1, 3 and 7.

I preferably carry the hat holders 33 straight up from their distance tohold the hats securely in place, the wire being bent sufiiciently so asto prevent the possibility of the hats slipping off the rack andbecoming soiled by contact with the floor when the racks are tiltedormoved carelessly about the shop.

It will now be apparent that all of the parts of my novel rack may bepressed or stamped out of sheet metal, if desired, and in practice theangles, cross bars, base members and top and side members are formedfrom a single sheet of material whereby a very strong and rigidconstruction is produced.

I11 order that the standards or uprights may be made of comparativelythin metal and still have the requisite strength, the reinforcingmembers 10 are employed whereby a very light construction may beproduced and still have the requisite strength to withstand the hardusage to which devices of this character are subjected in practice.

In cases wherein wooden racks are employed, there is a constant expensefor repairs while in my novel rack the parts are so constructed thatthey are not liable to become broken, whereby a large reduction in thecost of keeping the racks in workable conditions is eliminated.

The rack illustrated in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 has the uprights, base-members,top members and longitudinal side members forming the front and rearedges of the shelves similar to the above-described "rack, but above thelongitudinal side-members at one side of supports a suitable the rack,which may be termed the rear side of the same, are brim-retainingmembers, 55, in the form o1 tubular rods like the shelf-members, andriveted with their flattened ends to the flanges of the uprightcorner-members. End-bars, 56, are secured to the flangedcorner-uprights, and longitudinal shelf-members, 57, are supported uponsaid end-bars, parallel with and midway between the longitudinalside-members. Said intermediate shelf-members are preferably secured tothe end-bars by means of angleclips, 58, riveted or similarly secured tothe flattened ends of the tubular shelf-members, and hooked over andriveted or similarly secured to the flattened middles of the tubularend-bars. The middles of the intermediate shelf-members and of thelongitudinal side-members are connected by crossbars, 5 riveted orotherwise secured with flattened portions to flattened portions of saidtubular members.

This latter rack is especially adapted for womens hats which vary insizes and styles and are, therefore, not always capable of fitting uponthe hat-holders 33 of the first-described rack.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and usefulconstruction of a hat rack which embodies the features of advantageenumerated as desirable in the state- Gopies of this patent may beobtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ment of theinvention and the above description, and while I have, in the presentinstance shown and described thepreferred embodiments thereof which havebeen found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it isto be understood that the same are susceptible of modification invarious particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

In a device of the character stated, base members, upright angles havingthe lower ends of their flanges laterally deflected at angles to eachother and secured to said base members, reinforcing angles secured tosaid angles and said base members and l1aving the lower ends of theirflanges laterally deflected, a plurality of truss members connected withsaid upright angles, work supporting members connected with said uprightangles, top members secured to said upright angles, and means on saidworksupporting members to position articles thereon.

ROBERT R. SMITH.

lVitnesses:

E. J. HAYWARD Famnanns, C. D. MoVAY.

of Patents,

Washington, D. b.

